Councillor Woodley tried desperately to explain to headteachers and worried parents at the council's extraordinary meeting on education on April 28 (Monday) how the council intended to deal with the current £8 million education shortfall but was cut short by boos from protesters.

Despite a packed public gallery and huge levels of public interest, clauses in Croydon Council's constitution limited the education debate to a maximum of 22 minutes.

The debate even had to be halted midway after an interruption from a fire alarm.

Dr Margaret Martin headteacher of St Andrew's School, explained why she was protesting for her school.

Dr Martin said: "We want the council to recognise the seriousness of this situation, the money they have given us is a drop in the ocean.

"The government did give us a poor financial settlement, but there is a complete lack of visibility in the way the funds are passed onto schools."

Headteacher of Archbishop Tenison's, Richard Ford, was concerned that a situation had developed where the government and the council were blaming each other while schools lose out.

Mr Ford said: "We are in the situation now, where central government is blaming local authorities and Croydon Council is blaming central government.

"There is fault on both sides, Croydon Council has made funding mistakes, had they built up reserves in the past they wouldn't be so badly hit now when they need the money."

At one point during the meeting, Councillor Stuart Collins, Mayor of Croydon, had to plead with the public gallery to maintain order, after continuing shouts from the public gallery.

Coun Louisa Woodley was passed a series of petitions with more than 2,000 signatures against the serious cuts Croydon schools face.

The council voted overwhelmingly at the end of the extraordinary council meeting to carry a motion to lobby central government for an improved financial settlement to help meet this year's increased education costs.

Council leader, Hugh Malyan, said: "We have been affected this year by miscalculation. The settlement has not taken into account the extra costs of teachers' pensions, salary increases and employers' national insurance contributions or increased spending on children with special educational needs. Although a sizeable sum has been received from Whitehall, it is simply not enough.

"The ball is firmly in the Government's court. They have acknowledged that there is a funding gap of some £0.5 billion across the country and, with other local authorities experiencing similar problems, Croydon is clearly not alone.

"With cross party support, we will lobby hard to make sure that our schools and children receive the funding they need."

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has stated that no decision will be made on extra funds until they have received financial information from all 150 local education authorities.

The DfES confirmed that an announcement is expected later this week.

May 1, 2003 11:00